Poll : Are we all ready for a National Strike?

[gone postal]

Ready to strike until the company folds if need be, if we give in the job won't be worth having anyway so might as well destroy it before jumping ship

You simply confirm the 'turkeys voting for Christmas' mentality that is rife among the union members. You couldn't care less about the customers who pay our wages or the company that gave us the opportunity to earn a living. For you it is all about getting one over the management of the Royal Mail. Industrial action doesn't work. Never has and never will. All it does is destroy business revenue, consumer confidence and ultimately jobs.

Myself and a great many other union members care about our customers, we care about the rural communities we work in. We also care about the pay and conditions that have been hard faught for. We care for those in competitors companies who work as so called self employed on or below minimum wage. "For the many not the few"

[Post69]

Ready to strike until the company folds if need be, if we give in the job won't be worth having anyway so might as well destroy it before jumping ship

You simply confirm the 'turkeys voting for Christmas' mentality that is rife among the union members. You couldn't care less about the customers who pay our wages or the company that gave us the opportunity to earn a living. For you it is all about getting one over the management of the Royal Mail. Industrial action doesn't work. Never has and never will. All it does is destroy business revenue, consumer confidence and ultimately jobs.

Myself and a great many other union members care about our customers, we care about the rural communities we work in. We also care about the pay and conditions that have been hard faught for. We care for those in competitors companies who work as so called self employed on or below minimum wage. "For the many not the few"

Well said! 99% of postal workers care! equally union members do care for the company we work for we simply cannot let this current top management structure go down this road of dismantling what is a fantastic British icon! So to have comments like "ready to strike until the company folds" is a tad annoying and a bit depressing!, This company we all work for can wipe the floor (so to speak) with the crap competition of yodel, Hermes,etc etc given the total freedom! And after all it was a labour government (at the time) that opened the postal market to these crap excuses of companies!!.

Just on a footnote! As I'm writing this I'm waiting for 3 books I ordered 2 delivered by royal mail have turned up one was 2nd class but somehow turn up next day! Hermes is delivering the 3rd next day service!, it was sent out Monday still not got it contacted seller they have received back with "tried 3 attempts to deliver so return to sender" ive had no card through the door nothing!! this is what level these crap companies are on!!!!!

[osgoody1970]

unfortunately post 69, it was the European union, that opened the postal markets to liberalisation, labour was indeed the government at the time, but did not have any control over it, but on a more serious note, I fear for the future of royal mail, they cannot compete on equal terms with this gig economy!!! when will this country finally realise, the people at the top and the government will always find the cheapest route for pay and conditions, ensuring CEO'S and the boards of these companies, make the most for themselves and their shareholders, Grenfell tower is a prime example!!!

[Post69]

unfortunately post 69, it was the European union, that opened the postal markets to liberalisation, labour was indeed the government at the time, but did not have any control over it, but on a more serious note, I fear for the future of royal mail, they cannot compete on equal terms with this gig economy!!! when will this country finally realise, the people at the top and the government will always find the cheapest route for pay and conditions, ensuring CEO'S and the boards of these companies, make the most for themselves and their shareholders, Grenfell tower is a prime example!!!

Yeah grenfell tower has opened everyone's eyes to how the ivory tower conducts itself let's just hope this is the turning point!. Deep down I feel your right even after this industrial unrest gets resolved which ever way it goes something will eventually have to give because people just don't care about how the package they ordered arrived they just want it before they've even ordered it and delivered for next to nothing (at the moment we are a bit of a selfish society!)

[Phantom]

Ready to strike until the company folds if need be, if we give in the job won't be worth having anyway so might as well destroy it before jumping ship

You simply confirm the 'turkeys voting for Christmas' mentality that is rife among the union members. You couldn't care less about the customers who pay our wages or the company that gave us the opportunity to earn a living. For you it is all about getting one over the management of the Royal Mail. Industrial action doesn't work. Never has and never will. All it does is destroy business revenue, consumer confidence and ultimately jobs.

You simply confirm that you agree with Management destroying the business, The board and senior managers couldn't care less about the customers who pay our wages or a company that gave us the opportunity to earn a living and as for the lower end management they are sitting ducks waiting to be culled, not long now before 50% is cut. For you it is all about getting one over on OPG staff and Union members within Royal Mail. Industrial action does work. Always has if done correctly. RM have never given anything, we've had to fight for working conditions and pay rises.

[citypostie]

Ready to strike until the company folds if need be, if we give in the job won't be worth having anyway so might as well destroy it before jumping ship

I can't believe how much bitterness is on this forum! This has to be the most stupid statement I've ever read on a forum "ready to strike until the company folds" Really!! Very silly!!!

Thanks, means a lot to me that I've got that honour. You must read very boring forums though

[postslippete]

new starters on less money for 3 years. pension different for everyone who joined after 2008. (executive action by them). I suppose you also think its ok to rob people of thousands and thousands of pounds by raping their pensions as well. oh and they ALWAYS never mention the fact that they are raking in a BILLION quid a year from D2D. All money they say is not there. but its strange how they find this money when strikes are mentioned or imposed. (2010 superdeal)

It's called negotiation DaveyLad.

They could always get others to deliver Door to Doors and not you!

You failed to mention my other points - strange that !

your other points,...well lets look shall we!!...starting with your second point. we should accept later starts. people with kids should have concessions made for them. if you haven't got kids tough titties!!...what a totally selfish point. a lot of people started this job because of the early finish, lifestyle and other commitments were able to be upheld because of this. now because the jobs changed only people with kids should get an early finish!! WOW..... your first point is totally 100% WRONG. bringing in 6 hour deliveries will NOT save jobs it will cause job LOSSES!!. where do you think that extra work will come from ernie?... i'll give you a clue. not indoor work!! 2 years ago Mark Baulch was at our office and it was him who told us about RMs hidden agenda on 6 hr deliveries. other duties will be carved up to achieve this. i.e. lets say you have an office where all walks are 4hrs long. you have duty A. B. & C. they will take 2 hrs work from duty B. and add that to duty A. and the other 2 hrs will be put on to duty C. giving both duties 6 hrs work. duty B. will be made redundant. that's 1 in 3 jobs will go. now the figure he actually gave was this:- RM currently have 68000 walks up and down the country. they want that reduced to 43000. that's 25000 jobs to go ernie....NOT SAVED!!. And these redundancies are not being picked on a seniority basis either!! it could be you, me, anybody who's duty is carved up. now you tell me if you or Mr S.O.B think that this is not worth striking over then fair enough...I wish you well in your redundancy. its an inevitable outcome that ONLY strike action will stop. vote for it lads and lasses its the only way to stop their rot.

Taking industrial action will not 'stop the rot' as you put it. Far from it. The only outcome of industrial action will be an acceleration in loss of jobs, business, revenue and crucially public confidence in our brand. The postal market is now fiercely competitive and with mail volumes declining, it is imperative that we exploit and expand our parcels business. A 35 hour week is pie in the sky. It cannot be afforded in a very competitive market where we must ruthlessly drive down our operating costs and remain a profitable business. Unions themselves are outdated and backward looking in an era where we must embrace change and be innovative in our solutions to the challenges we face.

So, what changes should we be expected to embrace and how do you expect us to be innovative to the solutions to the challenges that we face…...??

You say that a 35 hour week is pie in the sky and cannot be afforded. So what do you think can be afforded? Do you think that our hours should be the same (39 hours) along with a BIGGER outdoor delivery span. Is that what you are getting at in pointing out that we should be delivering more parcels to compensate for the decline in letters?

You point out that Unions are outdated and backward looking and this does seem like a very broad generalisation. Well, I've worked for other companies before the Royal Mail, just so you know, and I can safely say that I much prefer to work in a place that does have some sort of Union, for that bit of job security.

You say that we must ruthlessly drive down our operating costs and remain a profitable business. Have you been hand-picking Moya's comments in last months Courier by any chance? Can you guess what the biggest operating cost is in the business? Well, I suppose we could get rid of some of the dead wood and everyone else can all have bigger rounds with less terms and conditions like no sick pay or paid holidays.

I personally don't want to strike. It's not the way forward but I'm not against change either. I'm always reminded that in business you only ever get something until you give something back in return. Thats why the CWU has proposed a 35 hour week with no loss in pay BUT what Royal Mail want in return for this at present is just NOT acceptable. We don't work for a company that wants to blatantly rape us and by constantly comparing us to the 'gig' economy - companies that are crap to work for, like Amazon, Hermes or Yodel - that is precisely what Royal Mail are doing. And that is what will destroy public confidence in our brand. That is why I will be voting for strike action.

[daveyeff]

just ignore S.O.B ....he's wrong anyway. strikes and I/a have got us the terms and conditions we have today. they were not freely given by RM and never will be. we've had to fight them EVERY time to get something decent. and a strike is the only way they listen. he wants us to stay on 39 hours go to 6 hour deliveries and lose 25000 jobs just to keep the customers happy.

[daveyeff]

he's also repeating himself over and over with the same brainwashing browbeating statements....strikes will not achieve blah blah blah....the customer etc etc. now where have we heard this patter before

[Lounge Lizard]

Dave,
Yes, indeed, SierraOscarBravo is just on here to wind us all up and the choice of his 'name' is evidence of that ;
"If you want to alienate someone, use the telephony alphabet. It’s certain to drive you November Uniform Tango Sierra"
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... 44927.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SierraOscarBravo]

he's also repeating himself over and over with the same brainwashing browbeating statements....strikes will not achieve blah blah blah....the customer etc etc. now where have we heard this patter before

Industrial action in the autumn in the crucial pre-Christmas period would go down like a lead balloon with both our business and residential customers. Given how the unions destroyed the coal industry in the 1970s and 1980s and sowed the seeds for the demise of that industry and the loss of thousands of jobs, it is imperative that we do not follow that same course.

A 35 hour week is a non starter. Asking to work 4 hours less per week for the equivalent of a 10% rise in pay. The prices of our products and services would be forced upwards making us more susceptible to the competition we face. It makes as much business sense as the magic money tree that Jeremy Corbyn plucks his policies from.

As for the issue of monthly pay, it is the way forward and most companies these days pay their staff in this way. How we pay sick pay in the future also needs to be reviewed. The current system is massively abused by those who are constantly on the sick. The serial offenders more often than not hide behind the union as they sit at home feigning illness because they can't be bothered to do a day's hard work. The sooner the Royal Mail tightens the screw on these people and preferably eases them out, the better for everyone who does work jolly hard day in day out.

[Tman]

Yeah grenfell tower has opened everyone's eyes to how the ivory tower conducts itself let's just hope this is the turning point!.

Well, the tragic loss of life opened everyone's eyes to how lax the fire retardant testing was/is on tower block cladding, but as for some "turning point" or deep political sea change then it appears you read the Mirror or listen too much to the likes of Corbyn and co.
Quite what this tragedy has to do with the forth-coming strike is a mystery though...

[Lounge Lizard]

"Given how the unions destroyed the coal industry in the 1970s and 1980s and sowed the seeds for the demise of that industry and the loss of thousands of jobs, it is imperative that we do not follow that same course".
So McGregor had no plans to decimate Britain's coal industry and if Scargill hadn't called a strike we would still have dozens of coal mines and plenty of coal fired power stations ?
Do you really think we were born yesterday ?

[SierraOscarBravo]

"Given how the unions destroyed the coal industry in the 1970s and 1980s and sowed the seeds for the demise of that industry and the loss of thousands of jobs, it is imperative that we do not follow that same course".
So McGregor had no plans to decimate Britain's coal industry and if Scargill hadn't called a strike we would still have dozens of coal mines and plenty of coal fired power stations ?
Do you really think we were born yesterday ?

The coal industry was in decline in the decades following the second world war, but the unions egged on by the likes of Scargill and the militant Left hastened that demise.

[jetblack]

"Given how the unions destroyed the coal industry in the 1970s and 1980s and sowed the seeds for the demise of that industry and the loss of thousands of jobs, it is imperative that we do not follow that same course".
So McGregor had no plans to decimate Britain's coal industry and if Scargill hadn't called a strike we would still have dozens of coal mines and plenty of coal fired power stations ?
Do you really think we were born yesterday ?

The coal industry was in decline in the decades following the second world war, but the unions egged on by the likes of Scargill and the militant Left hastened that demise.

The closure of exhausted pits was managed historically by both the union and management for decades - if thats what you mean by decline. But as I tried to point out earlier, the pit closure programme of the 80's and 90's was a political programme - and not the managed closure of (economically) exhausted pits.
It was mostly to do with the NUM bringing down the Heath govt. in '74.

There is clearly no analogy whatsoever to be made between the coal and postal industries. Other than, perhaps, they are both the victims of a neo-liberal political/corporate determination to extract every last drop of profit from the markets they serve and exist within.

Along with just about every other source of wealth in the UK.